Massdevice.com

Glaukos  (NYSE:GKOS) said today that a study of its iStent trabecular micro-bypass stents reduced eye pressure in glaucoma patients five years after implant. The same study showed that significantly fewer iStent patients needed add-on medications after five years, the company said. The study showed that newly diagnosed, primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients who received two […]

More medtech companies are experiencing shortages of medical devices due to the sudden closure in February of a Sterigenics sterilization plant. Officials from Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH), and Guerbet (EPA:GBT) have written letters to customers indicating that certain devices are already in short supply or may experience shortages, Medical Device & Outsourcing has learned. The letter from Cardinal Health (Dublin, […]

The February shutdown of an ethylene oxide (EO) sterilization plant has produced the first temporary medical device shortage, according to the FDA. The device in short supply is the Bivona tracheostomy tube manufactured by Smiths Medical and used by many pediatric patients. The FDA anticipates the tube will be made available again the week of April 22, according to […]

Funding for digital health companies continues to rise, with 2018 the biggest year so far this decade, according to healthcare investment firm StartUp Health. Investors took a greater interest in machine learning, blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI). Digital health funding was 14 times greater than it was eight years ago, when New York-based StartUp Health began […]

Synchron said it has begun the first clinical trial for its neural interface technology designed to restore communication to people with severe paralysis. The trial will measure the safety of the company’s “thought-to-text” technology by assessing its Stentrode implant in combination with BrainOS software and the stability of high-fidelity signals from the brain to external communications […]

A successful transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) recovery for rock icon Mick Jagger could be good news for companies such as Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) and Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) that make devices for the procedure, according to analysts following the medical device industry. The Rolling Stone frontman tweeted Friday that he was feeling better and on the […]

AirXpanders (ASX:AXP) said that a retrospective clinical study has concluded that the use of its AeroForm tissue expanders may be associated with reduced infection rates, less medical treatment and lower costs for patients and health systems. The Palo Alto-based company makes the AeroForm tissue expander for post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. The device is designed to expand and […]

Galway, Ireland-based startup Signum Surgical said today that it has landed more than $3 million in grants to help fund its efforts to gain U.S. and European regulatory clearance of a device intended to treat a condition that can cause fecal incontinence. The grants include $2.04 million from the European Union Horizon 2020 SME Instrument […]

Federal prosecutors have wrapped up an insider trading case based on alleged tips from a Bank of America consultant on pending corporate transactions, including Abbott‘s (NYSE:ABT) $25 billion acquisition of St. Jude Medical. Rodolfo Sablon, 39, of Miami, Fla., was sentenced Friday to six months in prison for his role in the insider trading scheme based […]

A study of patients implanted with Orthofix Medical’s (NSDQ:OFIX) M6-C artificial cervical disc showed a significant improvement in neck and arm pain, function and quality of life scores, the company said today. Patients in the investigational device exemption (IDE) study also used less pain and opioid medication when compared with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion […]